John Humphrys is a radio and television presenter, journalist, author and winner of many national broadcasting awards.

John Humphrys was the first of the BBC’s journalists to present front-line news programmes on both television & radio. They have included Today, the Nine O’Clock News, On the Record, On the Ropes & Panorama.

For ten years he was a foreign correspondent with the BBC & over the years has reported on most major international events ranging from; the Watergate crisis & resignation of Richard Nixon to the first free elections in South Africa, revolutions in Latin America & assorted wars in all parts of the globe. He was based in Washington for six years (the youngest journalist ever to be appointed as a foreign correspondent in BBC television) & in Southern Africa for three years.

John began his career in newspapers. He won many national awards, including his most prized; the Special Award of the Plain English Campaign. In 2000 he was voted Political Journalist of the Year by MP’s in the Channel Four Parliamentary Awards. In February 2010 he was voted Radio Personality of the Year by the Variety Club of Great Britain & in March was honoured as Journalist of the Year by the Media Society for his “distinguished contribution to journalism”.

John Humphrys writes the main column for the Sunday Times, contributes regularly to other newspapers & magazines & also writes a weekly column for the political internet web site YouGov.com. His first book, Devil’s Advocate was published in September 1999 & went straight into the best-sellers list to critical acclaim. The Observer said it was “peerless reporting”; the Times said he “touched a raw nerve”; the Sunday Telegraph compared his writing with “that great publicist & arch-dissenter William Cobbett” & the Sunday Times called him a “national institution”. He has also written The Great Food Gamble which explodes the myth of “cheap” food. He wrote the best-seller, Lost for Words which examines the way the English language has been mangled & manipulated & the sequel, Beyond Words: How Language Reveals the Way We Live Now.

John Humphrys has always attracted controversy for his forthright style. He was attacked publicly by a Conservative Cabinet minister in the 90s for his interviewing – the BBC was swamped with letters & phone calls, more than 90% of which supported him. Many other politicians & public figures rose to his defence, as did newspapers of all persuasions. The Daily Mail has described him as “the foremost broadcaster of his generation” & the Express ran a column demanding “Humphrys for Prime Minister”. It concluded: “Politics would be richer but the BBC would probably close down through lack of interest”. Within six months of the Labour government taking over, Humphrys was being attacked by them. Downing Street demanded that the BBC do something about what it called “the John Humphrys problem”. Again the press & public rose to his defence. Several newspapers claimed that John wasn’t the problem; he was the solution.

John Humphrys has worked for most of the major corporations, trade & industry bodies in Britain & in many overseas countries over the years. His regular clients include telecoms companies, the IT industry, banks, financial service providers & manufacturing industry. He chairs conferences & seminars, delivers keynote addresses & makes after dinner speeches. He is particularly at ease taking unscripted questions from audiences. He believes that it’s more interactive, more informative & more entertaining than pronouncing from behind a lectern. He was one of the first presenters to do away with the lectern & auto-cue at conferences in the belief that audiences are more likely to be impressed by what they regard as spontaneous discussion than by heavily scripted & pre-digested material.